Students at Northeast High School in St. Petersburg were evacuated from campus Friday morning after a bomb threat was reported, triggering a heavy police response that backed up traffic on the streets surrounding the school. The St. Petersburg Police Department is investigating the threat and warned residents to expect delays near the campus while officers work the scene.
The evacuation was ordered as a precaution while police searched the grounds, according to Tampa Bay 28, which first reported the threat and the resulting campus evacuation. A police spokesperson said an update would be released once officers determine it is safe for students to return to class, but did not offer a timeline for when that might happen. The heavy police presence in the area was expected to cause continued traffic delays near the school as the investigation unfolded.
Northeast High sits at 5500 16th Street North, and the police activity backed up traffic specifically along 54th Avenue North and 16th Street North, the two roadways that bound the campus, according to WTSP 10 Tampa Bay. The school, led by Principal Michael Vasallo, serves nearly 1,800 students in grades 9 through 12 and ranks among the largest comprehensive high schools in the Pinellas County School System, per the district's own school profile.
A Familiar Pattern of Threats at the Same Campus
Friday's threat is not the first to hit Northeast High. In February 2025, a 17-year-old student at the school was arrested by St. Petersburg Police and charged with a second-degree felony after posting a social media threat hinting at violence against peers, as Hoodline reported at the time. And in May 2024, local law enforcement investigated and arrested a suspect following an online security threat directed at the same school, according to WFLA.
The recurring threats at Northeast High mirror a broader pattern of hoax and false-alarm incidents across Pinellas County. In April 2025, a bomb threat scrawled inside an airplane bathroom at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport forced an evacuation and an hours-long search by bomb-sniffing dogs before authorities determined it was a false alarm, Hoodline previously covered that incident. Emergency units in the county treat every threat as real until it is cleared by a specialized bomb sweep.
Steep Penalties Await Anyone Behind a Hoax
Florida law treats false bomb reports harshly. Under Florida Statute § 790.163, making a false report concerning a bomb or explosive is a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, with no option for suspended or withheld adjudication, according to the Florida Senate. Federal law adds another layer of exposure: under Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 844(e), a false bomb threat made via telephone or another interstate communication instrument is a federal crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Pinellas County Schools policy compounds those criminal risks with mandatory discipline. Florida Department of Education guidelines under Florida Statute § 1006.13 classify bomb threats as major campus disruptions subject to zero-tolerance rules that require at least a one-year expulsion and a mandatory referral for criminal prosecution, independent of how any court case is resolved. A Florida anti-swatting law that took effect in July 2025 further raised the stakes, making swatting that causes injury a third-degree felony and requiring offenders to pay restitution for the cost of the emergency response, per WMFE.
Pinellas County Schools also relies on FortifyFL, an anonymous tip-reporting app created under the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, to route threat information directly to school officials and local police. It remains unclear how Friday's threat was communicated to authorities, and no suspect has been publicly identified. Police have not said when normal instruction is expected to resume at Northeast High, and Hoodline will update this story as the St. Petersburg Police Department releases further information.
